“Good morning, Warden,” A loud voice called from the side. “They’ve only been out here about thirty minutes but have already worked up a good sweat.”
“Good, good. Are the others already out and tending to the other gardens and animals?” Dad stepped toward the man and waved for me to follow.
“Yes, sir. We got them out here at 7:30 this morning. No time for playing around.” The man’s gaze landed on me. “Who’s this?”
“Oh, this is the new kid.” Dad slapped me on the back hard. “Just showing him around.”
“Well, that’s unusual. You’ve never given any other new recruit a tour.” The man reached up and scratched his chin. He was close to my Dad’s age, at least from what I could tell.
“That’s one reason I like you so much.” Dad laughed and glanced back to the workers. “You’re blunt. This is, in fact, my son, Aaron.”
“So he’s continuing the family career.” The man’s face relaxed and almost seemed friendly. “It’s a very worthy cause. My names Dennis.” He reached out his hand, and I held mine out as well shaking his hand.
“It’s nice to meet you too.” I couldn’t keep my gaze from the workers. “This is amazing.”
“Well, this place is top secret, so it’s not like we can have food trucks deliver here. That would be a nightmare. The main part of their job is tending to the crops and animals, to feed them and help out the pure breeds that go without.”
That was an interesting concept and a good cause to serve. Maybe it won’t be that bad, but for some reason, something sat hard in my stomach. When something looks too good to be true, it normally was. So what was the catch here?
Chapter Four
After touring the grounds, I still couldn’t process how big this prison actually was. They were growing corn, potatoes, vegetables, herbs, and had a section for livestock, such as pigs, cows, and chickens. It was huge, but when you think of how many supernaturals were here, it would take all types in order to feed them adequately. They also had cabins, on complete opposite sides from one another, with a place where the vampires cooked for the prisoners since they couldn’t walk out into the sunlight. One was for the men and the other for the women. There was a separate fence around those that stood over twenty feet high with four sets of barb wire just like the front on top. There was a cut out door that locked into it that the guards could open so the prisoners could come and go.
It was strange to see all these supernaturals, doing manual labor and not utilizing any of their powers. And since I didn’t have my badge yet, my magic was being suppressed as well. That was a neat little fact Dad filled me in on.
“So you now see why this place is special and sacred.” Dad genuinely smiled which was a rarity at the best of times. “I’m going to be honest, son. I’m a little jealous that you get to be a hunter. They wanted me to stay here and use my powers as a guard, but damn… to be out there tracking someone down sounds exhilarating.”
That was something I couldn’t relate to. Yes, I was glad for a good job, but the hunting side made me nervous. It was one thing taking a prisoner in, but it was another thing killing the parents. I wasn’t sure I was cut out to be a killer even if it was for the greater good. “Yeah, it’s something.” See, I hadn’t lied.
“Let’s take you over to Mac so he can give you a briefing, and then we’ll get you all badged in.” Dad swiped his card and opened the door that led back into the building.
I hadn’t expected Dad to spend almost all day with me. It was already half over since the prisoners were all held outside. “I don’t want to cause you to fall behind on anything.”
“Oh, no, you aren’t.” Dad once again patted my back, but this time it was a little too hard. “Do you really think I’d slack on my duties?”
Of course he turned this into something I didn’t fucking mean. “No, of course not.” If I said anything else, it would make the situation even worse.
“Good, because this job is important, and no one can slack.” He paused and grabbed my arm, turning me toward him. “Do you understand?”
Something inside me seemed to toss and turn and fight back, but I squashed it down. Fighting back with him never accomplished anything. “Got it.”
The rest of the tour, silence seemed to echo around us, but in reality, only our footsteps were making noises on the slick linoleum floor. We walked down a long hall that had two doors on the left while the right side was floor to ceiling windows and turned right at the end of the hallway. There was a door to the right a few steps after the intersection, and Dad reached over and opened it.
As I walked in behind him, I saw rows of black lockers running parallel to the walls. It almost reminded me of my old high school’s locker room but on steroids. The lockers weren’t staggered like school but long, running from the ground to the top. Instead of dial locks, they had a place to scan a badge. “What is this?”
“This is where you store your personal items while you’re on the clock and a place to leave your guns and armor when you head home.” Dad motioned around the room and took a few more steps inside. “Since you won’t have a desk, you’ll be assigned one of these.”
That didn’t sound like a bad deal. I hadn’t thought about it, but he was right. I wouldn’t have an office like Dad so I’d need to store my keys and stuff somewhere.
“Come on, badging is right down the
